Known cooling systems, such as coldplates, are used to cool components of an electronic device or system. Some coldplates include a copper plate with drilled passages through which water or other fluid is circulated. Such coldplates provide very low thermal resistance, but the copper plates are typically large and very heavy making them expensive to manufacture and difficult to machine. Other known coldplates include an aluminum plate with copper tubing. This type of coldplate is lighter and less expensive to manufacture, but has the disadvantage of a higher thermal resistance.
Some known cooling devices include the use of flattened, large diameter copper tubing that can be used alone or in conjunction with an aluminum plate. The flattened tube offers low thermal resistance over its surface. The disadvantage of this type of cooling device is that the flattened tubing has a small passageway that can be easily clogged and create a high differential pressure of the fluid flowing through the tubing. This type of device is also difficult to manufacture. For example, it can be difficult to machine threaded holes in the tubing for screw connections to, for example, a source of fluid or between tubing portions. The tubing typically includes complex solder or braze joints to form a water seal. In addition, it may not be possible to add other features to the tubing, such as bosses, ridges, and countersinks.
In addition, large coldplates are commonly used in generators, for example, to drive plasma processes. Such coldplates typically have multiple water passages and span an entire width of the generator. Because such high power dissipation components present in such generators are constrained by two planar surfaces, there is often unused or underutilized coldplate surface area.
Accordingly, there is a need for a cooling apparatus that is relatively light weight, easy to manufacture, and provides flexibility for efficient and effective cooling of electronic components.
Although present devices are functional, they are not sufficiently accurate or otherwise satisfactory. Accordingly, a system and method are needed to address the shortfalls of present technology and to provide other new and innovative features.